Product Description

This rare look at "Harlow" starlet Alice Faye before her big box office makeover shows her singing, dancing and romancing in a musical comedy filled with hope, glamour and happiness. As a carhop lured into a phony drama school by a washed- up director, Faye shines in a succession of elaborate numbers and comedy antics bound to make you smile. This film, considered lost for over six decades has never been shown on television.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114220 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-07-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 77 minutes

Amazon.com
Though now largely forgotten, Alice Faye was once a top box-office star. In one of her earlier films, 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934), Faye plays Alice Perkins, a young woman from Peoria, IL, who meets Jimmy Dale (James Dunn), a former top director now reduced to teaching at a shady talent school. A wealthy sucker, smitten with Alice, agrees to bankroll a movie, so long as she plays the lead; Dale agrees to direct, hoping to revive his lost career--but the con artist who runs the school plans to steal the cash and leave Dale holding the bag. The highlight of 365 Nights in Hollywood are the musical numbers from the movie within the movie, glitzy routines that occasionally verge into the surreal, like a love scene between Tarzan and Mae West! A sprightly, silly romp. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Rare? Yes. Classic? No.
I'm a huge fan of early thirties pre-code musicals but it almost goes without saying that there's even approaching not enough of them available on DVD.

So you'd think this would be a must-have purchase for any lover of art-deco cinema, especially considering the movie's pedigree (long thought lost, last remaining print, rare example from a studio whose back catalog is mostly long since disappeared).

Well - from a purely scholarly point of view it's fairly interesting; in that it's very different from Warners, Paramount or MGM musicals from the same era. It also features a comedy double act (Mitchell & Durant) whose clumsy knockabout slapstick looks so primative to be virually neanderthal (think of Anthony Quinn & Alan Ladd doing a poor imitation of Laurel & Hardy and you'll be close.). Alice Faye is very cute, but given very little to do except emote, plus early on she's asked to do a specific imitation of Jean Harlow (fair enough, Fox were marketing her as their version of the Platinum Blonde, but did they have to be SO blatantly obvious?).

Essentially it's 42nd Street in a studio, with a paired down cast and production values two steps up from a poverty-row production. There's only two proper musical numbers and both are under-rehearsed and unimpressive. You will not be humming the choons/tunes after watching this.

DVD quality is fair, there's some deterioration, but it's the best you'll ever see considering it's the only surviving print. No extras to speak of, except some fun trailers for 50s sci-fi and monster movies.

Although I applaud the fact that a rare musical is, after nearly 70 years once more available to the public, I'd much rather have any number of pre-code musicals available on DVD (any of the Gold-Diggers movies for example) or perhaps some of the long unseen Clara Bow vehicles from her Fox era. It would also be much more preferable to see such Alice Faye vehicles as the original George White's Scandals.

365 Nights in Hollywood fun while it lasts, but with it's forgetable supporting cast and lacklustre production "it just don't cut the mustard". Won't keep you coming back for more and certainly not recommended for those unfamiliar with this era of film-making. I suggest they check out some Busby Berkeley movies, even if it does mean getting them on - gasp! - VHS!!

VERY early Alice Faye!
A very early film, thought to be lost, showcases Alice Faye in typical role---however she seems somewhat uneasy in this film, not her usual relaxed and in control self. The film is certainly not the quality of her later films, and the story line is a bit jerky and often comes to a stop. The DVD has passable video and sound, but this is not a film you will be wanting to see over and over!!

Best part is at end, when Alice sings----

Only for the die-hard fans
Here is Alice Faye in her first year in Hollywood and she convincingly portrays a shy girl trying to establish herself as an actress; in fact, exactly what she was at the time. This doesn't mean that the film or Alice are very good. The script is weak, the production values mediocre and the supporting cast, including the tedious comedians Mitchell and Durant, minor so this is a B grade film all round. Alice really only comes alive in the 2 song numbers and she looks and sounds good in both.

This apparantly was the last remaining print of this film, thought to be lost, so the quality is not very good too. For die-hard fans, it is better than nothing.